numerous. ’’ Trelease admonished the membership to look to the financial 
well-being of their Academy. He suggested that current pressure could 
lead to serious difficulties in the immediate future, and he called for 
efforts both to increase the size of the membership and to find people 
willing to make more large cash donations.4 
By 1915 the Academy’s financial state had worsened, as Trelease 
predicted it might. Its revenues for the year totalled only $3,164—down 
from $7,159 in 1909 and $12,437 in 1903.° Reacting to this crisis, the 
Academy made several attempts to increase its membership and to add 
to its bank accounts. 
In an attempt to gain new members, the Academy broadened the 
constitutional definition of the associate membership category to include 
teachers, members of laboratory staffs, and university and college 
students.° It also organized a meeting of ‘‘scientific men’’ to discuss 
ways of making the Academy a more effective catalyst of scientific and 
educational activities and called for changes in its lecture programs to 
make them more attractive to those interested in industrial research and 
development. Concurrently, it struggled to find more sources of cash.” 
Unfortunately, all this energetic activity proved futile, and both the 
membership and revenues continued to drop.* The Academy paid heed 
showing up for any one meeting. Pa a 
The topics covered varied greatly , 
the best-attended meetings for 1903, | 
attended meeting of 1903, which drew 
34 
= 
as a survey of the minutes of 
909, and 1913 shows. The best- 
an audience of fifty people, con- 
